Inland boss leaves by mutual consent, company announces

The new chief executive of listed housebuilder and land trader Inland Homes has quit little more than a month into the role, the firm announced yesterday.

In a two-sentence statement to the City, Inland said the former Galliard Homes chief executive Don O’Sullivan had “resigned from the Group with immediate effect by mutual agreement”.

Shares in the firm fell 18% immediately after the announcement. O’Sullivan, who was appointed chief executive of Inland on 7 December, has also stepped down from the board.

Don O'Sullivan, Chief Executive, Galliard Homes 2

Don O’Sullivan was in post for less than six weeks

His rapid appointment and then departure comes amid a turbulent time for the business, after its founder and chief executive Stephen Wicks quit in September after a profit warning saw its shares drop by a fifth.

That warning related to delays in securing the sale of sites prior to its financial year end in September, and provisions of £15.4m from its construction division.

O’Sullivan had been appointed in part to lead an ongoing strategic review, which was announced on 6 September, of the £181m turnover developer, with the board expected to update on the review in the first quarter of this year.

O’Sullivan’s appointment had appeared to reassure investors, with the firm’s stock market value recovering 37% in the month after he took control.

Prior to his appointment at Inland, O’Sullivan had spent more than 20 years at Galliard Homes, starting in 2001 as a contracts manager, rising to chief executive in 2017 until March last year.

Announcing his appointment last month, Inland’s chair Simon Bennett said: “He is ideally qualified to lead Inland Homes and his construction expertise will prove to be invaluable.”

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